Quiet Day for Sanchez, Skipp, and Tottenham Internationally
By Aaron Coe
Tottenham Hotspur had a quiet day internationally as Skipp sat and Sanchez missed out, like Columbia might, so what happened Friday globally for Spurs.
Tottenham Hotspur started the international break with sixteen players headed out on national team. Different circumstances have reduced that number since the start of the week. Due to changes, omissions, and circumstances, Tottenham had zero players participate internationally Friday, instead of the originally scheduled five.
Not Tottenham’s Night
According to Tottenham’s official website, both Columbia and Argentina were supposed to play in World Cup qualifying Friday. However, Giovani Lo Celso, Lionel Messi, and Argentina played on Thursday drawing Paraguay, with Lo Celso earning an assist. So, there was no issue with Argentina or Lo Celso, but that original five became four with date of the match.
Davinson Sanchez just had a child with his wife and only arrived in South America on Thursday, just too late to participate in the match on Friday. Sanchez was certainly missed as Jeison Murillo started next to Yerry Mina and committed the foul at 52 minutes to give Uruguay the penalty kick for their second goal according to Marca.
Mina ended up getting sent off on a second yellow as Uruguay added one more in the 3-0 route, which was the worst ever home defeat for the Columbian Men’s National Team in a real competition, according to Marca. Probably a good game for Sanchez to miss, but Columbia is now in danger of missing the World Cup altogether as only 4 slots are guaranteed for CONMEBOL and the fifth goes to a playoff.
Columbia currently sit seventh on 4 points, behind sixth place Chile on goal differential after 3 matches. The England Under-21 squad is having no issues qualifying for the European Championship. Originally, three Tottenham Hotspur players were supposed to participate in the match with Andorra, but non actually played.
Ryan Sessegnon has been quarantined in Germany as Covid has played havoc in that country, we hope Sessegnon stays safe. Brandon Austin was not on the squad selected for the match, so he did not play. Finally, Oliver Skipp – currently on loan to Norwich in the Championship – was named in the squad but was an unused substitute.
Between births, disease outbreaks, omissions, and simply being overlooked, none of the original five Tottenham player participated in international football Friday. Ultimately, that might not be a bad thing as Spurs schedule is about to heat up and they need a full fit and healthy squad.